Zero2Cool
16 years ago

After seven games the Packers defense is ranked 15th in the NFL, allowing an average of 327.9 yards per game. Green Bay is No. 26 in the league in rushing defense and No. 9 against the pass.

In Sunday's win over the Colts, the defense shut out Peyton Manning and his high-octane offense for more than three full quarters. After the Colts scored on their opening drive of the game, they did not score again until less than two minutes remained in the contest, when the outcome was long decided.

The defense had two more interceptions in that game to increase its league-leading total to 13, and it returned both of them for touchdowns, the second game this year the defense has returned two picks for scores. Safety Nick Collins and cornerback Charles Woodson each have two of those touchdowns, and they have posted four interceptions apiece, tied for the league lead.

In the second of a three-part series of conversations with the team's coordinators, Packers.com sat down with third-year defensive coordinator Bob Sanders during the bye week to take a look back at the first seven games and look ahead to the rest of the '08 season.

Your unit has dealt by far with the most injuries so far - a thin defensive line and key injuries in the secondary. How big of a challenge has that been, and how do you feel the players have handled it?
[ul]Certainly anytime you lose guys it's a challenge, but if you're not careful you can use that as an excuse, and we don't make any excuses. The expectation here in Green Bay is if you're a backup and someone goes down in front of you, then your time is up. That's why we place such a big emphasis on the offseason program, our guys being here, and playing sound fundamentally and those types of things, so when your chance comes, you're ready to go.

There's certainly a lot of plays we'd like to have back - an alignment here or a technique here. But our guys have responded extremely well. The work ethic has been very good. The guys have tried to do everything we've asked them to do. Have we gotten it done every single time? I'd be hesitant to say yes on that. But as far as the work ethic, the attitude, it's been phenomenal.

We've got some good leaders on our defensive side with Aaron (Kampman) and Charles (Woodson) and Nick Barnett, and of course a lot of guys have fought through injuries, A.J. Hawk. I can't say enough about him. Brandon (Chillar) and Brady Poppinga have been solid guys that haven't gotten hurt. We have a lot of guys who have been steadying influences on the young guys. And the young guys have stepped up and played with emotion.

We've had some moments that weren't some of our best, but it's not because guys weren't working hard or trying to do the right thing. We've gotten a lot of young guys experience, so I think that will help us in the long run. When we get some of those injured guys back, it will make our depth that much better. Ted and Mike have done a good job getting us talented guys, so when we've had guys go down, we've had guys we could put in there and play.

The guys have been unselfish. They've changed positions. Aaron Kampman was rushing inside yesterday. Will Blackmon double-trains. Jarrett Bush double-trains. Poppinga and Brandon and Desmond (Bishop), all those guys have double-trained to try to help out. The team has pulled together and we've tried to make it work and the attitude has been great.[/ul]

After he got 12 interceptions in his first two seasons here, did you think it was possible for Charles Woodson to play even better? Have you ever seen a player come close to what he's done - missing practically every practice but playing at a Pro Bowl level?
[ul]He's such a professional. He's so instinctive. He plays physical, he plays strong. He's a really good technician. He's a consummate pro as far as his preparation and communication, and one of the most instinctive guys that you could ever hope to be around. It doesn't surprise me, the things that he's done, it really doesn't, because I know how hard he works and I watch him work and I watch his effort and his attention to detail. The plays that he makes, the positions he's in, the things that he sees are the mark of a true professional, and he is that.[/ul]

Is there a player on your unit who hasn't gotten a lot of headlines yet who could be on the verge of a breakout in the second half this year?
[ul]We've got a lot of young guys who have done a great job. Starting up front, Johnny Jolly plays with a lot of emotion and enthusiasm. Colin Cole has had two outstanding games in a row. Jeremy Thompson stepped in Sunday and did a nice job. I've already shared a little about the linebacking group. And in the back end, you've got Will Blackmon and Tramon (Williams) have stepped up. Jarrett Bush is a double-trained guy. Charlie Peprah has stepped in there and played well.

In each segment there's a guy that has risen up. It will be fun to watch the rest of the year as the guys continue to get better and get more experience as they're called on. Because in this league, you always expect the unexpected, and there's always somebody. The thing we have to work on with all those guys is consistency. We'll get two or three good plays and then there will be a bad play, and it's not any one guy. We'll spread that around. But we have to work toward finishing the games, and I think as these guys get more experience, that type of thing will come.[/ul]

Was it a challenge to keep the defense emotionally up after losing leaders like Cullen Jenkins and Al Harris?
[ul]No, not really, because Mike does such a great job setting the tempo and the direction of the organization. We have a lot of young guys that are excited every day, and if one guy has a misfortune, then that's another guy's opportunity. Certainly we miss those guys, but those other guys have an opportunity to step up and be a main cog, an opportunity to start or be a real good backup. It gives them a lot of spark. And then some guys who have been the veteran stalwarts, who have the experience, they've stepped up. They've said, 'Hey, we may have to do even more,' and they'll continue to do that. When you have that kind of attitude, you don't really have to worry about guys getting down because the attitude is, 'Hey, we have to find a way.'[/ul]

With Atari Bigby and Harris nearing a return to the field, how beneficial will it be for the team in the long run that guys like Aaron Rouse, Williams and Blackmon saw such significant time?
[ul]Tramon is a starter anyway, because he's been a starter in our nickel package. But certainly Will did a great job Sunday on Harrison. Those guys getting experience is invaluable. It goes back to that offseason program, everybody being here, getting those fundamentals down and working those fundamentals every day in practice, so when that time comes, you're ready. Then if you have an injury, guys are ready to go, and then when guys come back off injury, it gives you more depth and more options. The experience has been invaluable and those guys will continue to get better.[/ul]

It seems like Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila has been more active and around the ball the past two games. Do you feel like he may be turning the corner and getting healthier?
[ul]Hopefully so. It looks like he is. He was very, very active Sunday in the game, really had a nice game against Indianapolis. So hopefully he's starting to get healthy. With the off week, a lot of guys hopefully will get the rest they need and come back stronger and ready to go.[/ul]

Do you feel like Nick Collins is reaching his potential as a playmaker and how pleased have you been with his play overall?
[ul]Nick has been very, very good. As far as another year in the system and getting himself in position and making the plays when he has the opportunity to make them, he's had an outstanding start. He's been the quarterback back there, a guy that studies the game. He knows what we're trying to get done. The communication has been much better this year.

He's a guy that has always had a tremendous amount of athleticism. He's instinctive, but certainly now, with him getting in better position and staying in position, and then breaking on the balls that he sees thrown, he's starting to come into his own. If he continues, which I believe he will, hopefully he'll be one of the premier safeties in the league from a playmaker standpoint. He's tackled very well, good low tackler. He's played physical, he's played nicked, and he's made some tremendous plays for us.[/ul]

Have you been impressed with rookies Jeremy Thompson and Pat Lee, guys you probably weren't expecting to have to rely on this early?
[ul]Those guys have to grow up by the week. The last two weeks Jeremy has gotten more playing time than Pat, but certainly is getting indoctrinated under fire and is playing at a high level. 'Big Daddy' (defensive ends coach Carl Hairston) has done a good job with him. There were some instances in the Colts game, some things would happen and we'd have to adjust him a little bit. He's a guy who could make those adjustments and later in the game would make the play, off the same look. Him continuing to improve, taking care of himself, continuing to get strong, will help us, and the experiences that he's getting are going to be invaluable. I think he's a work in progress, and Pat, same thing, a work in progress. He just has to keep a sense of urgency and continue to get better each and every day in practice. With Will and those guys, we had some young guys in front of a young guy, so he hasn't had to take the whole load, but when he's been in there, he's done some nice things.[/ul]

What kind of impact could Justin Harrell have the rest of this season, provided he can stay healthy?
[ul]I don't want to put a heavy burden on Justin, because it's not about one guy. Football is a team game. It's not about one segment or one guy or one side of the ball. It's about a team. But certainly he's a big body and we like big bodies inside. He's worked hard. Our strength staff has done a good job with him, and our training staff. He's in the best shape he's been in in a while. (Defensive tackles coach) Robert (Nunn) has a good plan to break him back in, and he had a good week last week. He has a lot of athleticism. He's a big body, big length. Certainly big guys can make an impact, so we'll bring him along and hopefully he'll be ready to go soon.[/ul]

What's the most important area you've targeted for improvement during the bye week?
[ul]We're just starting the process, but when you go back and look at the situations in the games that you can try to improve on, there's some of the run game we have to improve on, staying in our gap and being more consistent with our fundamentals and techniques. You maybe look at a couple blitz situations and how we can better utilize our personnel, those types of things.

Then there's some things that encourage you as well. When you self-evaluate, it's not all about finding out what's wrong, it's about finding out what's right, so you can build on that too. There's a lot of good things our guys are doing. We just have to improve on the areas we have been weak and continue to build on the areas we've been pretty good. I think that's what a good team does, and our guys are hungry to do that. They want to know, they want to be good. Like I said, we've got good leadership on defense, a lot of guys who have been in the wars, a certain level of toughness that you play at. There's a lot of positives, and the negatives, we just have to look at and learn from them and move on.[/ul]

How good did it feel to have this defense perform like it did against the Colts, and what can a performance like that do for the guys the rest of the season?
[ul]Certainly, you want to win the game. That's the main thing. It feels good to win. But it's just one game. It was just that game. There were a lot of things that hopefully we can build on. The enthusiasm, the emotion that we played with. The technique that we played with. The heightened sense of awareness, the sense of urgency. All those things, hopefully our guys learned and will build on that and just get better at those things and play at a high level, because I think our guys know when you play at a high level the good things that can happen. But that was just one game, we'll learn from it, build on it, hopefully get some rest, get healthy, learn from the mistakes that we made the first part of the season and hopefully progress down the stretch when things matter even more.[/ul]


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Fan Shout
packerfanoutwest (4h) : or did you resctrict access to that topic?
packerfanoutwest (4h) : why did you remove the Playoff topic?
Zero2Cool (19h) : Tua’s old DC won a Super Bowl Year 1 with Tua’s former backup
Mucky Tundra (20h) : *winning MVP
Mucky Tundra (21h) : Funny observation I've heard: Carson Wentz was on the sideline for both Eagles Super Bowl wins w/guys supposed to be his back up winning
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : NFL thought it would get more attention week preceding Super Bowl.
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Yes, the Pro Bowl. It was played Sunday before Super Bowl from 2010-2022
packerfanoutwest (10-Feb) : pro bowl
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : From 2010 to 2022, it was played on the Sunday before the Super Bowl
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : They moved it to the BYE week before Super Bowl several years ago.
packerfanoutwest (10-Feb) : it was always after the SB.....
beast (10-Feb) : Though I stop following pro bowl years ago
beast (10-Feb) : I thought the pro game was before the Super Bowl?
packerfanoutwest (10-Feb) : ok now for the Pro Bowl Game in Hawaii
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : If I was Philly I would try to end it instead of punting it
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : VICTORY! We have (moral) victory!
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : Hey they mentioned that we 3-peted
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : seems to me the 49ers should have traded Aiyuk when they had the chance
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : if the Eagles get it down to the 1, do they Tush Push or give it to Barkley?
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : 49ers have a money problem if they want to sign their QB
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Wait for real? Didn't he just get an extension two years ago?
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : 49ers gonna trade Deebo. Interesting
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : Replays always never seem to show the holdings
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : Great throw by Hurts
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Where Carter falls prey to bad off the field influences (to be clear, not saying he'd clip someone though)
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Had Carter not gone to Philly were they already had a lot of old college friends, he ends up in a similar spot to Aaron Hernandez
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : I think some of his coaches told scouts to stay away
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : the street racing incident+conditioning and motivation problems
beast (10-Feb) : Then Carter was street racing, where the other car crashed and people died... and other teams were scared to pick Carter for some reason
beast (10-Feb) : I think the Saints traded up, giving their next year 1st to the Eagles, and then they sucked and Eagles got the 10th overall pick
packerfanoutwest (10-Feb) : wtf Barkley?
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : Getting Carter and Nolan Smith in the first round in 2023 was pretty darn good
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : for some reason i'm thinking of a draft where the Eagles where in the mid 20s and a top player fell all the way to them
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : I think so. I would need to look it up. Think it may have been Carolina's pick.
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : i'm not sure who i'm thinking of now
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : oh fuck me i messed that up
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Jordan Davis was 13th overall
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Carter was 9th overall
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Eagles had 15th and 10th selections, moved to 13 and 9 to get Davis and Carter back to back
Zero2Cool (10-Feb) : Eagles traded up for Carter, didn't they?
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Obviously he was a huge risk but getting a top 5 talent on the dline in the mid 20s is fortuitous
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : Jalen Carter falling into their lap certainly helps
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : And we could only wish to have this type of D
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : It's not like Philly has had low draft picks, but has managed to get themselves a top notch pass rush. We spend so much draft capital of D
packerfanoutwest (10-Feb) : another crap halftime show
TheKanataThrilla (10-Feb) : I think it is over, but then I think of Atlanta and want Philly to go in with the same intensity in the second half
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : And with a Pass Rush that might as well be on a milk cartoon and no Jaire
Martha Careful (10-Feb) : I cant help but feel good about how well the Packers D played in Philly during the playoffs
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : this game is over
Mucky Tundra (10-Feb) : This might be the kill shot here
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